1. Field Of Invention
The present invention relates to small parts feeders of the type generally found in Patent Office class 198, sub-class 276 as well as sub-classes 255, 273, 276, 281, 288, 289, and class 221 sub-classes 159 and 160, and elsewhere in the art. The basic field includes vibratory parts feeders, rotary parts feeders, conveyors, and linear type parts feeders all having the ultimate goal of delivering unoriented parts in an oriented fashion for further processing, usually in a manufacturing or assembly operation.
2. Description Of The Prior Art
U.S. Pat. No. 3,881,596 is exemplary of the prior art. It will be seen there that a rotary feeder is employed to transfer a plurality of cups such as might be employed as overcaps on aerosol packaged products. Patent 3,881,596, assigned to applicants assignee, shows a machine which work very efficiently and effectively, but is the result of special purpose tooling for various parts which are to be fed. Other U.S. patents exemplary of the prior art are Nos. 3,828,921 and 3,860,145. Invariably, however, the devices and methods illustrative of the prior art require some special tooling. A need still exists, unfulfilled, to develop a parts feeder and method which has a wide variety of adjustable features, and upon which a whole host of parts can be the subject of experimental feeding, and thereafter by adjustment, feed the parts at efficient rates. Such a machine and method offers the advantage to the manufacturer of not gambling on the man hours devoted to special purpose tooling, and the purchaser has the advantage of flexibility in that the same machine may be used for running different parts provided it is adjusted between the runs.